Warm air humidifiers



3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Se 1;. 21, 1960 66 IN V EN TOR.

J1me 1964 J. R. SCOTT WARM AIR HUMIDIFIERS Filed Sept. 21, 1960 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 WARM AIR HUMIDIFIERS' Filed Sept. 21, 1960 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Jaw . INVENTOR.

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j with parts broken away to show some of the United States Patent 3,139,462 WARM AIR HUMIDIFEERS James R. Scott, 226 N. Lombard Ave., Oak" Park, Ill; Filed Sept. 21', was, Ser. No. 57,419 3 Claims. (til. 261-70) This invention relates in general to humidifiers, and more particularly to those in which an evaporator unit is disposed in-the path of a current of warm air.

A principal object of the invention is'to provide such a humidifier which readily may be employed with warm air furnace installations of various types and also lends itself to use as a separate room conditioning unit.

Another important object of the invention is to insure accurate and constant maintenance of a' selected rate of evaporation and to facilitate ready adjustment of that rate. This is accomplished by providing novel water flow control mechanism for assuring delivery of water at a' selectively adjustable rate to novel evaporation means.

Other objects are to simplify as much as possible the installation, adjustment andperiodically required cleaning of warm air humidifiers, eliminate other normal serv ice requirements and any noise of operation, minimize waste of water, and provide a un'ithaving a maximum useful life.

Numerous other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent as it is better understood from the following description, which, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, discloses a preferred embodiment thereof.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a vertical sectional view through a warm air humidifier'embodying the features of my invention;

FIG. 2 is'a top plan view of the humidifier of'FIG. 1, details of construction;

FIGS. 3 and 4 are detail vertical sectional views taken substantially on the lines 33 and 4-4; respectively, of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is an'elevational view of a modified form ofmy invention with parts of the casing and evaporator unit shown in section; and

FIG. 6 is a' detail perspective view of a portion of the Water-receiving means of the evaporatorunit of FIG. 5. Referring more particularly'to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings, reference numeral 11 indicates in general a casing comprised of front and rear walls 12 and 13, vertical sidewalls ld-and 15, and top and bottom' walls 16 and 17. The specific details of construction'of this casing are notimportant, since the separate parts may be formed and secured together in any suitable manner. The casing 11 is provided with inlet and outlet means for thepassage of warm air therethrough which; in the modification of FIGS. l4, comprise an inlet aperture 18' in-the top wall 16 and an outlet aperture 19 in the rear Wall 13.

T o facilitate removal of the evaporator unitfrom the interior of this casing, as will more particularly appear from the following-description,-the front wall 12 preferably is formed as a removable closure. member or door including dependingtabs 21 secured to its inner face adjacent its lower edge for insertion through companion apertures or slots provided and appropriately located in the bottom wall-1'7" (FIG. 1), anda manually operable latch 22 rotatably-mounted adjacent its upper endand ineluding-a finger 23 movable into-and out of cooperative 3,139,462 Patented June" 30,

ence numeral 25, within the interior of the casing 11. The top portion of this evaporator unit 25 comprises a slide plate 26 which preferably is provided along its lateral edges with upstanding flanges 27 (FIG. 4) slidable within the channels 24 to prevent vertical movement of the slide within the casing, and depending flanges 28 along the front and rear edges thereof for cooperation,- respectively, with the front and rearwalls 12 and 1-3 (FIG. 1) to limit sliding movement of the evaporator unit when disposed within the casing.

Secured inany suitable manner to the slide plate 26 exteriorly of a central opening 29 thereintFlGS. l and 2), as by means of screws 31, is a water receivingmeans 32 in the form of an annular trough which is open at its upper end. This trough 32 is divided into innerand outer channels 33 and 34 by a vertically extendingannu lar wall 35 which, as best seen in-FIG. 2, is provided'in' FIGS. 2 and 3, each of these segmental pockets 38ialsocommunicates with a vertical discharge aperture 39 extending through the lower Wall of th e inner channel 33 The primary function of the recesses 36 in the annular wall 35is to seat, and limit circumferential movement relative to the trough of, a plurality of sponge pieces 41 which, together, comprise sponge means' for transferring water from the outer channel 34 to the inner ch annell 33 of the trough 32; As best seen in FIG. 3, each of these separate sponge piecesis' substantially U-shapedinvertical section to conform to the veitical'sectional shape of the interior of the trough 32.

Secured to the trough 32 and depending therehom'is an evaporator meansin the form of a vertically extend; ing tube 42 of cellulose spun yarn which is woven of" vertically and horizontally extending strands 43 and-44 to provide appreciably large air spaces oropenings in' the walls thereof. Means are provided for dependingly supporting the tube 42 from the trough 32which', as best" seen in FIGS. 1 and 3, comprises a ring 45 having horizontal tabs 46' extending inwardly therefrom and circuitrferentially spaced from each other which are secured by bolts 47, or the like, to similarly disposed extensions" 48 preferably formed integrally with the trough" 321 The upper marginal portion of the tube 42 is enibracedbef tween this ring 45 and the lower inner portion" of the trough 32 so as to dispose the upper edge of the tube in vertical alignment with the several discharge ape'r tures 39. Any suitable means ma be employedto se cure the tube 42 to the'ring 45.' Such means may take the form of a plurality of clips49'ext'ending over and" through the upper end of thetub' and around'the ringpanel is provided to receive any eir'cess water from the.

evaporator tube as a precautionary measure since, as will be more fully understood from the following ex'plana tion, although accurate setting'of'the water supply under any given operating conditions will result in evaporation of all the water delivered to'the evaporator unittoattain' the desired degree of humidity in the air pa's'sing'the're' through, changing conditions can result in an excess of" water being supplied withthe'same'settiiig. Iii order-"to remove any possible excess water thatm'ay be're'ceived by the drain Pen 51 from the tube 42, aleng'th'ofcopper tubing, or the like, 53 may be connected at one end thereto in any suitable manner, as shown in FIG. 1, with the other end of the tube extended to any available drain or sewer outlet. This drain tube 53 preferabl is disposed adjacent the forward end of the unit to extend through a suitable slot 54 in the front wall or door 12 so as not to interfere with the removal of the evaporator unit from the casing.

Since air introduced into the casing 11 for humidification should pass through all available openings in the walls of the apertured tube 42 to attain maximum elficiency, in the modification of FIGS. 1 and 2 in which the inlet and outlet openings are provided in the top and rear walls of the casing, vertically disposed bafile means may be provided in the form of plates 55 that are disposed interiorly of the tube 42 for accomplishing that purpose. In the form shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, two such baflle plates 55 are employed, each having side walls disposed at right angles relative to each other with the junc tions of those walls of the two plates engaging each other, whereby the space within the tube 42 is divided into four quadrants. At their outer ends, each of the walls of these baffle plates 55 are provided with horizontal tabs 56. Such tabs may be formed both at the upper and lower ends of the baflle plates, if desired, and they are secured by suitable bolts to correspondingly positioned extensions 57 formed on the trough 32 and drain pan 51.

Means are provided exteriorly of the casing 11 for delivering water from any available source to the evaporator unit 25. As shown in FIG. 2, a tube 58 reprwents a suitable source of water under pressure. If automatic operation under the control of a humidistat is desired, a suitable solenoid valve 59 may be connected to this supply tube 58 and controlled in well known manner by the humidistat. Such solenoid valve then is connected at its outlet side by a tube 61 to a float operated con trol valve 62 or, if a humidistat is not to be employed, the water supply tube 58 may be connected directly to the valve 62. This control valve 62 is mounted in well known manner in an aperture provided in an end wall of a reservoir 63. The valve 62 is controlled, i.e., opened or closed, in response to movement of a suitable float 64 disposed within the reservoir 63. As best seen in FIG. 1, this float 64 is provided with a screw 65 extending upwardly therefrom and having a knob 66 mounted on its upper end. The float screw 65 is threadedly engaged and extends through a tapped aperture in the inner end of a lever 67. The outer end of the lever 67 is pivotally connected to the housing portion of the control valve 62 and, in spaced relationship to such pivotal mounting, to the Well known operating plunger of the control valve. With this arrangement, a lower position of the float 64 will open the control valve 62 to permit the flow of water into the reservoir 63, and the resulting raising of the float will cause the control valve to be closed to stop such water supply. The water level within the reservoir 63 thus will be maintained automatically at a predetermined level, and that level may be varied or changed by vertical adjustment of the float relative to the lever 67 by manually rotating the knob 66. In order to facilitate such adjustment, the reservoir 63 preferably is provided with a removable cover 68 having an aperture 69 through which the adjusting screw 65 extends. The reservoir 63 is mounted in any suitable manner on and above the casing 11, as by means of a mounting bracket 71 having one leg on which the reservoir is disposed and a second leg secured in any desired manner to the upper wall of the casing.

In order to control accurately the flow of water from the reservoir 63 to the evaporator unit 25, an intermediate receiver 72 is provided which is disposed laterally adjacent the reservoir and above the evaporator unit. This receiver 72 is in the form of an open-top cup which has an inner diameter of approximately /a inch. Suitable conduit means 73 are provided for interconnecting the reservoir 63 and this receiver 72 which also function to support the latter. As shown in FIG. 1, this conduit means 73 comprises a fitting 74 secured in well known manner to the bottom of the reservoir 63 and a pipe 75 connected thereto at its inner end and extending up wardly at its outer end into the cup 72 to the bottom of which it is secured in any desired manner. Also extending upwardly through the bottom of the intermediate receiver 72 is the upper end of a drip pipe 76 which is threadedly mounted in a suitably tapped aperture in the bottom of the receiver. By rotating this drip pipe 76, the upper end thereof thus readily may be adjusted with respect to the bottom of the intermediate receiver 72, which plays a very important part in determining the rate of flow or dripping of water to the evaporator unit 25. In the form herein illustrated with the intermediate receiver having an inner diameter of approximately Vs inch, the inner diameters of both of the pipes 75 and 76 are approximately A; inch. These relative dimensions have proven to be critical in obtaining proper delivery of water to the evaporator unit. The drip pipe 76 is positioned in vertical alignment with the outer channel 34 of the water receiving means or trough 32, and the lower end of the drip pipe is disposed above a suitable aperture 77 provided in the top wall 16 of the casing 11. The mounting bracket 71 is cut away at 78 so as not to interfere with the flow of water from the drip pipe 76 through the aperture 77 and also to provide clearance for the conduit pipe 75.

Before describing the operation of this warm air humidifier, the details of construction of the modification of FIGS. 5 and 6 will be given, because its humidifying action is essentially the same as that of the modification of FIGS. 1-4. As shown in FIG. 5, the water delivery means and the humidifier casing are the same as those of the first modification, with the exception that the lower wall 17 of the casing is provided with the outlet aperture 19. The reason for this arrangement is that it facilitates use of the humidifier in some types of warm air furnace installations, such as a down-draft unit having the warm air plenum extending below a floor slab, with which the first modification may not be so readily employed. To insure proper movement of the warm air through the openings and the walls of the evaporation tube 42 in this modification of FIG. 5, a drain pan 79 is mounted, as by means of suitable brackets 81 to surround the lower end of the tube and in vertically spaced relationship to the bottom casing wall 17. This drain pan 79 is imperforate and slightly larger in diameter than the tube 42, but is spaced inwardly from the vertical walls of the casing 11, so that it functions as a horizontally disposed baffle to prevent direct movement of air between the casing apertures 18 and 19 through only the interior of the tube 42. In this modification, of course, the drain pan will remain in the casing when the evaporator unit is slidably removed therefrom, the evaporator tube 42 being sufficiently flexible to permit its lower end thus to be withdrawn from, and inserted into, the drain pan.

In this modified form of FIGS. 5 and 6, the means for receiving the Water from the drip pipe 76 of the water delivery means also is constructed somewhat differently than the previously described trough 32. It comprises an open-top trough 82 attached at its outer margin in any desired way to the slide plate 26. The upper end of the evaporator tube 42 is secured to the inner marginal wall of this trough 82 in any desired manner, as by means of a plurality of clips 83 (FIG. 6) reversely bent at their upper ends to overhang the upper edge of the inner wall of the trough and secured at their lower ends in any suitable manner to the ring 45 to which the tube. is attached by the clips 49. Disposed between the supporting clips 83 are segmental-shaped pieces of sponge 84 which, like the sponge pieces 41, have a vertical section which is in the form of an inverted U. The outer leg portions of these spongepieces 84 thus are disposed within thetrough 82, and. the inner leg portions thereof rest directly upon the upper edge of the evaporator tube 42.

As. will be. appreciated from the preceding description, a. warm air humidifier embodying the features of this invention may be employed with warm air furnace installations of various types; While it is more practical in most instances that the upper aperture 18 in the casing 11 be employed as the inlet for warm air to be humiditied, the principles of operation of this unit facilitate selective employment of the aperture 19. as the inlet aperture, if desired. In standard warm air furnaces having dual plenums at the top, the instant humidifier preferably is. mounted at the side of that section of the furnace which houses the blower, with the air being forced from the warm air plenum and through the humidifierfor delivery into the blower section. It will be understood, of course, that this humidifier is equally well adapted for use in any other type of warm air furnace installation. The modification of FIG. 5 is particularly adaptable for use in a down-draft furnace having the warm air plenum extending below the floor slab. The instant humidifier also is readily adapted for use with an individual fan or blower as a self-contained room unit. In such use, the fan or blower preferably is mounted on top of the casing 11 either to move air downwardly, or to draw air upwardly, through the evaporator unit 25. The present structure also may be incorporated, if desired, within a cabinet containing a static electric air cleaner and a heating unit, or one in which the latter is selectively operable either for heating or cooling. v

Regardless of the particular direction ,of movement of air through the casing 11 in either of the two modifications herein illustrated, such air flow is impelled through the openings provided between the strands 43 and 44 of the walls of the tube 42 of the evaporator unit 25. In the modification of FIGS. 1 and 2, such desired direction of air flow is assured by the baffles 55 which prevent all of the air merely flowing througha small portion of the tube wall. Likewise, the drain pan 79 of the modification of FIG. 5 functions as a horizontal bafile to produce the same desired air flow by preventing direct flow between the apertures 18 and 19 vertically endwise through the interior only of the evaporator tube 42.

Adjustment of the knob 66 of the water delivery means will position the float 64 so as to insure automatic maintenance of water in the reservoir 63 at a predetermined level. That level of water in the reservoir 63 in large measure determines the eifective head of water provided by the delivery means and the resulting rate of flow therefrom to the evaporator unit, and it may be varied by adjustment of knob 66. It will be understood, of course, that this will result in a substantially constant rate of delivery of water to the evaporator unit, whereas inclusion of a solenoid valve 59 in the system may be employed to prevent water flowing into the reservoir 63, under specified conditions, even when lowering of the float 64 opens the valve 62.

The effective head and the resulting rate of delivery of water to the evaporator unit 25 also may be varied by adjustment of the vertical position of the upper end of the drip pipe 76 relative to the bottom of the intermediate receiver 72. The specific reasons for the results so obtained are not fully understood, but it is known that the relative dimensioning of the pipes 75 and 76 and the intermediate receiver 72 previously described herein is critical to completely satisfactory operation of the water delivery means. The available adjustments of 66 and/or 76 make possible delivery of water at any desired rate between very slow droppings and a substantially constant stream. With this method of controlling the water pressure or head, the desired flow of water, even down to extremely small quantities, is delivered without using any small orifices or reducing valves which, as is well known in the: art, create serious service, problems. I p

The construction hereinbefore described of the. waterreceiving or trough means 32 and 82 and their associated sponge arrangements for transferring water therefrom to the evaporator tube 42 assure constant rate of delivery of water to the evaporator tube and uniformity of such delivery from one point (directly below the drip pipe 76) to all points around the entire periphery of the, evaporator tube. As the, water supplied to the receiving means thus is delivered therefromto the upper marginal edge of the evaporator tube 42, either. through the discharge apertures 39 or more directly by the inner leg, portions of the sponge members 84, that water flows downwardly to uniformly wet the entire tube 42, from-which-it is-absorbed'in well known manner by the warm airpassing therethrough.

From the previous description, it will now be more readily appreciated that the installation of a warm air humidifier has been simplified as much as possible. A unit embodying the features of this invention readily lends itself to selective adjustment of the rate of humidification over a wide range, as well as making the periodically required cleaning or replacement of the evaportor unit a simple task. The evaporator unit may be completely removed from the casing 11 merely by sliding the same outwardly along the channels 24 after the access door 12 has been removed. This does not require the usual disconnections of air or water pipes or electrical wiring. At the same time, the novel construction of the evaporator unit assures proper service for long periods of time so as to increase materially the time between required renewal or cleanings thereof.

It is thought that the invention and many of its attendant advantages will be understood from the foregoing description and it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction, and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention or sacrificing all of its material advantages, the forms hereinbefore described being merely preferred embodiments thereof.

I claim:

1. A warm air humidifier, comprising a casing having means for directing the flow of warm air therethrough, an evaporator unit disposed interiorly of said casing in the path of flow of the warm air, a source of water under pressure, and means mounted exteriorly of said casing for delivering water from said source to said evaporator unit, comprising a reservoir disposed above said evaporator unit and connected to said source, control means for maintaining water at a predetermined level in said reservoir, a receiver disposed laterally adjacent said reservoir and above said evaporator unit and having a tapped aperture in the bottom thereof, conduit means interconnecting said reservoir and said receiver for supplying water to the latter from the reservoir and normally maintaining the same substantially at said predetermined level, and a drip pipe depending from said receiver for delivering water therefrom to said evaporator unit and having an open upper end externally threaded and extending upwardly through said tapped aperture in the bottom of said receiver, said control means including means manually adjustable to change the predetermined level of water maintained in said reservoir, and said drip pipe being adjustable vertically to vary the position of the upper end thereof relative to the bottom of said receiver, whereby the rate of delivery of water to said evaporator unit is selectively adjustable over a wide range.

2. A warm air humidifier according to claim 1, wherein said control means comprises a float valve and a float for controlling the same vertically adjustably mounted in said reservoir, and said receiver comprises an open top cup with an interior diameter approximately seven times those of said drip pipe and said conduit means.

3; In a warm air humidifier having a casing with an inlet and an outlet for air communicating with the interior thereof, and an evaporator unit disposed interiorly of said casing in the path of flow of air therethrough including water receiving means adjacent the upper end of said casing, said casing including a top wall having an aperture vertically aligned with said water receiving means, means mounted exteriorly of said casing for dripping water at a predetermined rate through said aperture into said water receiving means, comprising a reservoir disposed above said water receiving means and having control means for maintaining water at a predetermined level therein including means manually adjustable to change the predetermined level of water maintained in said reservoir, an intermediate receiver disposed laterally adjacent said reservoir and above said aperture, conduit means interconnecting said reservoir and said intermediate receiver for supplying water to the latter from the reservoir and normally maintaining the same substantially at said predetermined level, and a drip pipe depending 8 from said intermediate receiver in vertical alignment With said aperture and having an open upper end extending upwardly through and terminating adjacent the bottom of said receiver, said drip pipe having screw-threaded engagement with said intermediate receiver to render the same adjustable vertically to vary the position of the upper end thereof relative to the bottom of said receiver.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 976,446 Dunbar Nov. 22, 1,949,364 Ball Feb. 27, 1934 2,054,541 Hettinger Sept. 15, 1936 2,158,294 Long May 16, 1939 2,172,647 Widman Sept. 12, 1939 2,235,116 Ray Mar. 18, 1941 2,639,905 Dow May 26, 1953 2,906,512 Meek Sept. 29, 1959 

1. A WARM AIR HUMIDIFIER, COMPRISING A CASING HAVING MEANS FOR DIRECTING THE FLOW OF WARM AIR THERETHROUGH, AN EVAPORATOR UNIT DISPOSED INTERIORLY OF SAID CASING IN THE PATH OF FLOW OF THE WARM AIR, A SOURCE OF WATER UNDER PRESSURE, AND MEANS MOUNTED EXTERIORLY OF SAID CASING FOR DELIVERING WATER FROM SAID SOURCE TO SAID EVAPORATOR UNIT, COMPRISING A RESERVOIR DISPOSED ABOVE SAID EVPAORATOR UNIT AND CONNECTED TO SAID SOURCE,CONTROL MEANS FOR MAINTAINING WATER AT A PREDETERMINED LEVEL IN SAID RESERVOIR, A RECEIVER DISPOSED LATERALLY ADJACENT SAID RESERVOIR AND ABOVE SAID EVPAORATOR UNIT AND HAVING A TAPPED APERTURE IN THE BOTTOM THEREOF, CONDUIT MEANS INTERCONNECTING SAID RESERVOIR AND SAID RECEIVER FOR SUPPLYING WATER TO THE LATTER FROM THE RESERVOIR AND NORMALLY MAINTAINING THE SAME SUBSTANTIALLY AT SAID PREDETERMINED LEVEL, AND A DRIP PIPE DEPENDING FROM SAID RECEIVER FOR DELIVERING WATER THEREFROM TO SAID EVAPORATOR UNIT AND HAVING AN OPEN UPPER END EXTERNALLY THREADED AND EXTENDING UPWARDLY THROUGH SAID TAPPED APERTURE IN THE BOTTOM OF SAID RECEIVER, SAID CONTROL MEANS INCLUDING MEANS MANUALLY ADJUSTABLE TO CHANGE THE PREDETERMINED LEVEL OF WATER MAINTAINED IN SAID RESERVOIR, AND SAID DRIP PIPE BEING ADJUSTABLE VERTICALLY TO VARY THE POSITION OF THE UPPER END THEREOF RELATIVE TO THE BOTTOM OF SAID RECEIVER, WHEREBY THE RATE OF DELIVERY OF WATER TO SAID EVAPORATOR UNIT IS SELECTIVELY ADJUSTABLE OVER A WIDE RANGE. 